


Saving Sirius

by Talesofivylight



Series: Being Raised by a Werewolf [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Explicit Language, Family, Friendship, Gen, Prison Escape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-04 21:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14029584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talesofivylight/pseuds/Talesofivylight
Summary: Little Harry becomes curious about an old photo he finds after exploring the attic. When he asks about it and Remus tells him about the person who hurt his parents, Harry sends his godfather on a quest to find out the truth. What truth does Remus find and what does Sirius Black have to do with it all?





	1. From the mouth of babes

**_September 1986_ **

"Moony," called six-year-old Harry who was standing next to the bed that held the resting body of Remus.

"Moony, wake up. Let's play." Harry tried again, using his little hands to shake his godfather. The only response the little boy received was a soft groan from Remus as he rolled over away from the child.

Harry frowned and was about to climb on the bed with the intention of jumping on the exhausted man but was picked up by soft hands and removed from the room and taken to his own room. He looked up into the eyes of his neighbor, Annie, who always watched him when his Moony was sick or working late and couldn't pick him up from school. She stayed over last night too while Moony was away for the night.

Annie was the only No-Maj who accepted and knew about magic and was not obliviated when the Ministry found out about her. Remus had to jump through various hoops to keep the girl from losing her memories. She was so good with Harry and honestly, without her, Remus wouldn't have survived raising Harry. The first two years were rough for the werewolf and the then-senior in high school saw the new father struggling with a three-year-old Harry who was quite spectacularly throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of parking lot. She knew how her parents would have dealt with such behavior and it looked to her that the man before her had just about reached that point, but she quickly intervened, introducing herself and then taking Harry's hands and playing a quick game with him, effectively quieting him down. Remus, amazed and grateful beyond belief, asked for her name and offered to drive her home. She jokingly stated that it was a bit strange for a teenager to get into a car with a man she never met before, even if he had an adorable kid, to which Remus blushed as he too realized that his offer was a bit sketchy. However, Annie smiled and gladly took him up on his offer as she told him that she knew he lived across the street from her and she had missed the last bus helping to calm Harry down.

That was the start of a friendship between the wizard and the young No-Maj. It grew more when Remus frantically asked her to watch Harry one weekend as he had no one else to ask to watch his child while he went to do some "errands". She gladly accepted but when Remus didn't return that afternoon or early the next morning, she went over to the house only to see him sprawled out on his floor, naked. He looked completely beat up and bruised and she thought he was dead until she heard him groan softly. Quickly she got a blanket off the couch and covered him while turning him over and asked him what should she do. That's when Annie learned about potions and bruise balms, something normal humans didn't use. When she saw the bruises starting to fade slightly after applying the cream, she demanded to know what was going on and learned from a weary and extremely exhausted Remus about the magical world. From that day on, she was the only person Remus entrusted to watch over his son on full moons.

"Harry, why don't we let your Uncle Remus sleep for now? He's not feeling well today," Annie said with a smile as she let Harry slide down her body to stand on the floor.

"But I wanna play with Moony," Harry said as he pouted and crossed his arms.

"You can play with Remus later, Harry. For now, why don't we play with your trains or your quidditch men?" Annie suggested as she picked up the toys to try to pacify Harry.

Harry, however, wanted none of that and instead crawled onto his bed and hid under the covers. Annie smiled. She wished she could give the adorable kid everything he wanted but there was nothing she could do. She sat on the bed and placed her hand where one of Harry's tiny feet rested.

"Do you want to play with your toys or perhaps read with me?"

The covered head shook back and forth negatively.

"Do you want to go flying?" Annie asked knowing it was one of Harry's favorite activities.

Another shake of the covered head was her answer. Stumped and out of entertaining ideas for the little boy, Annie sighed before giving the foot a gentle squeeze.

"Alright, Harry. When you're ready to play I'll be downstairs doing some work." With that, Annie left Harry alone in his room.

Surprisingly, it took Harry fifteen minutes to reappear from under his covers. He poked his head out to see that Annie truly did leave him alone. He climbed off his bed and went into the hallway, trying to find something interesting to do. His toys were fin, but only when Moony played with him or his friend Tyga came over to play. Harry stood in the hall looking around, but the only interesting thing was the closet with the linen. He thought about checking out the potions cabinet but he knew that he would be in big trouble if he played or touched anything in there without Moony's permission. With a huff of frustration at his boredom, Harry started to go back to his room. He stopped when the shadow of a ball began to swing under him. He looked up to see the ball attached to a string and the string was attached to a door.

Curiosity was a fault of Harry's and it almost always got him a stern talking to or a few swats on his behind because he would put himself in danger. Not on purpose of course, but it happened and his uncle would have to save him or get him out from a place he shouldn't have wandered into. Now he was thinking to himself if investigating that door would get him into trouble, but he couldn't help wondering what was up there. Standing on his toes, Harry reached up to grab the ball, but it was, of course, too far away. Harry glared at the offending ball that he couldn't reach. If only it would open by itself!

Suddenly the door opened and gently settled on the floor revealing stairs. Harry tilted his head at the door opening by itself before realizing that he was a wizard with magic. With an exasperated sigh at himself, the six-year-old slowly made his way up the stairs.

' _It's really dark up here,'_ Harry observed as he looked around the room. There were boxes everywhere and from what Harry could read on them, most of them were his. He saw a few boxes marked "Remus" in his godfather's loopy yet neat handwriting. His disappointment grew after each box he opened. The ones with his name on it had some old toys and clothes he couldn't fit anymore, while all of Moony's boxes had papers, clothes, or books, and there were more book boxes than clothes ones. Leaving the last box opened, Harry turned his head to look around the room once more. Nothing seemed particularly interesting and the six-year-old begrudgingly made his way to the entrance of the attic. He stopped when something hiding away in the dark corner behind the door to the attic caught his attention. The writing on the outside read "Godric's Hollow, Harry's things" on it in handwriting that Harry didn't recognize. Not that he would be able to read the other words. He was good at reading for his age but his skills weren't that good and all he could make out was "Harry's things" on the box. The first thing he saw when he opened the box was an old blue blanket with a lion and his name embroidered in gold at the bottom right corner. Harry picked it up and draped it around his neck as he continued to rummage through the box. There was something familiar and comforting about the blanket that Harry wanted to keep it close.

It wasn't long before Harry stopped again, this time with a photo in his hand. Remus was standing on the right with his hand on another man's shoulder. He had short black hair that reached his shoulders and gray eyes that looked just as happy as the other people in the picture. That man's arm was around the shoulders of a woman with red hair and green eyes who was holding a baby in her arms and slightly leaning against the last man in the picture who wore glasses. Everyone was smiling and waving at him. Harry smiled as well.

"Harry?"

The young wizard turned to face the voice that called him. Annie stood on one of the steps looking at Harry, though Harry could only see a shadow of her due to her blocking the light from the hallway. "What are you doing up here?"

"s'plorin," the six-year-old mumbled as he stood up from the box. "Look what I found, Annie," he showed the young woman the picture with Remus and the other people standing together in front of a house. Annie smiled at the people waving at her.

"That's a nice picture, Harry. Why don't we take it downstairs so we can see it better?"

"Do you know who these people are, Annie?" Harry asked standing at the top of the stairs. Annie turned to the boy and took the picture from him. Of course, she didn't know anyone in the photo except for Remus, but she didn't want to just brush Harry aside as if his question was a silly childish one.

"No, I can't say that I know anyone in the picture except your uncle Remus," she said as she handed the picture back. "Now, how about we go outside and play in the leaves? We can make a pile and take turns jumping in them."

Harry smiled and agreed. Once he put the picture and blanket away in his room, he put on his shoes and jacket then ran outside to join his babysitter.

**~*R.L.~*H.P.~*R.L.~***

"Thank you again for watching Harry, Annie. I'm sorry that I was completely out of it today." Remus said as he helped the younger woman with her coat.

"There's no need to thank me or apologize, Remus. I love watching Harry. He's so angelic and well behaved."

"I'm glad to hear that. He really is a good kid." Remus responded as he thought fondly of his child.

The two of them stood at the door talking a bit more before Annie picked up her bag and left to go home. Remus walked into the kitchen to start cleaning up the dinner dishes. Annie was nice enough to put a plate in the over for him as he didn't get up from resting until just a little while ago. Harry was in the tub splashing about, no doubt making a mess, but that was one of the many joys of being a parent. So long as your child was having fun, some messes were fine and easy to clean.

"Moony!"

And speaking of his child…

Remus set the dishes to wash and dry themselves before walking upstairs to the bathroom where a pool of water awaited his sock-clad feet. Harry was looking over the lip of the tub with wide innocent eyes and an "oh" on his lips. Remus sighed causing Harry to look up.

"Moony, the tub leaked out."

"Yes, I'm sure it did. It also looks like it had help from a certain little boy inside of the tub." Remus commented as he waved his wand to dry the water while grabbing a towel.

"I wonder who that boy could be," Harry smiled as he held up his arms for Remus to pick him up out of the tub. Remus groaned playfully and made a show of Harry being heavy as he placed his very wet child on the bathroom mat. Harry giggled as he started to dry his body.

"You're old, Moony."

"Old? You little scamp. I think you need a lesson in manners." Remus said, positioning his fingers to tickle his god-son.

"No! Not the tickle monster!" Harry squealed as he ran out of the bathroom, dropping his towel in the process.

Remus picked up the towel, chuckling as he placed it on the rack to dry before leaving the bathroom. It wasn't hard to locate his cub who was giggling under a pile of clothes in his bedroom closet. Even without his innovative cub's method of pulling all of his clothes off the rack to hide, Remus would have been able to smell the boy out. Perks of being a werewolf, Mari would often tease him when he complained about his heightened senses. Tiptoeing across the room, Remus slowly opened the ajar closet door. With a loud "gotcha!" Remus scooped the naked, squealing child out of the closet, tickling him until Harry called out "mercy".

Remus waited until Harry caught his breath before telling the child to put on some pajamas. Harry crawled off the bed still giggling and made his way to the dresser to pull out some underwear and pajamas with pictures of various cartoon monsters on them. He crawled back onto his bed where Remus had already pulled the covers back for him. After being tucked in, Harry moved his hand under his pillow to get comfortable and felt the photograph he had placed there earlier. In his earlier excitement, Harry had forgotten about the photograph from the attic. He pulled it from under the fabric and handed it to his godfather. "Moony, who are these people?"

Remus looked at the picture and inhaled sharply. It had been a very long time since he had seen this picture; the last time being five years ago when he returned to Godric's Hollow for Harry's things before forcing custody from the Dursleys to himself. He had put the picture away along with Harry's other baby things from England as, selfishly, it was too painful to look at the items that reminded him of his friends and the betrayal of that night.

The older wizard swallowed and allowed his lungs to breath before clearing his throat. "Harry, where did you get this?" Of course, Remus knew exactly where the child acquired the photo from, but it was a rule of his to always ask Harry questions instead of accusing the child of wrongdoing. It's worked all of these years and Harry normally tells the truth when asked a question. He wasn't going to ruin the child's streak of telling the truth by lashing out just because he was emotional.

The child in question looked at Remus inquisitively. "I found it upstairs in the attic. It was in a box." When Remus didn't reply, Harry put his head down contritely. "Am I in trouble?" he asked. He never meant to upset his god-father. He was just curious about the attic and then that box had so many interesting things in it.

Remus finally pulled his eyes away from the picture at Harry's question. His heart constricted at the crestfallen face. Shifting his body at an angle, Remus pulled Harry onto his lap. He gently ran his fingers through the boy's unruly hair.

"You're not in trouble, cub." Looking at the picture, Remus sighed before moving the picture closer to Harry. "The people in this picture are very special, Harry." He pointed to James, "This is your father, James Potter. He was an amazing and incredibly nice person…at times. Just like you, he loved to fly and was very skilled on a broom. He was quite the prankster like a little boy I know, but they were always harmless."

"Was he fun?" Harry asked.

"Very much so. There was never a time where we weren't laughing or having fun in between classes or the common room."

"What's a common room?"

"It's a place where students gathered to do homework or to relax with their friends at the school I went to with your parents." Remus answered fondly as he remembered his time at school.

"Oh," Harry replied as he ran a little finger over his father's face. He moved the same finger over Lily's face. "Is that my mommy?"

"Yes," Remus replied hoarsely. He cleared his throat and replied with a stronger "Yes, that woman is your mother, Lily." Harry continued to look at the picture before looking at Remus expectantly, who smiled gently at the picture.

"Your mother was amazing. She was the brightest witch of our age group and top of our class. She seriously disliked bullies and would defend anyone, even those who once bullied her. She has quite the temper though, similar to a little boy I know…"

"Can I meet him?" Harry interrupted.

Remus looked confused at his god-son. "Who?"

"The boy you keep talking about. He sounds really fun!"

Remus laughed loudly. Harry looked up at his godfather with a smile. "Do you feel better, Moony?" he asked causing Remus to stop laughing as he made eye contact with Harry. "Yes, but why do you ask?"

The six-year-old shrugged. "Dunno. I guess 'cuz you seemed really sad when you talked about my mom and dad."

Silence enclosed the bedroom. Remus wanted to kick himself for letting his emotions show to the child on his lap. It was his job to protect Harry and his feelings, not the other way around. He kissed the top of the little boy's head. He had to do better with hiding his emotions from Harry. Children shouldn't have to concern themselves with the woes and worries of their parents, yet the ever-perceptive child on his lap always seemed to know when Remus was feeling down.

"I'm alright now, cub." Remus responded after clearing his throat again. Harry looked up at the man holding him. He couldn't tell him if his god-father was telling the truth or not, but he didn't ask again as he wanted to know about the last man in the photo. He put his finger on the third man.

"Moony, who is this?"

Harry felt Remus tense, tightening his hold on the little boy who looked up at him curiously. "Moony?"

Remus jumped slightly at Harry calling his name. He sighed, regulating his breathing as he adjusted his hold on his child. Memories of his time as a boy in school with James, Peter, and Sirius swirled through his head, followed brutally by the news of Sirius' betrayal and Lily and James' death. As vehemently as Sirius was about hating Voldemort and dark wizards, and how adamant he was about becoming an Auror to fight against the dark side, it came as a strong blow to Remus to find out that Sirius would turn the Potters over to that madman.

"Moony, who is this man?" Harry asked again. Remus closed his eyes and sighed once more.

"That man, Harry, is Sirius Black. He used to be a friend of ours, your parents and I, until the day he betrayed your mum and dad."

Harry moved his finger over Sirius's face. "How did he betray them?"

Remus hesitated again, wondering how far he should go with this story. He personally didn't want to discuss Sirius or that night, especially with Harry. Who knew how the child would take the information? As it was, Harry was already suffering from random nightmares of that night. Telling the child about the man who essentially was the cause of his parent's death and almost his own would surely cause the child to suffer even worse nightmares.

"Moony…" Harry whined, tired of his godfather's constant pauses.

"I don't think you're old enough to hear this, Harry."

"Yes, I am. I wanna know how he betrayed my parents." Harry replied with a whine while kicking his feet under the covers.

"Harry, enough." Remus admonished.

"But you won't finish telling me the story," Harry pouted.

Remus contemplated telling the child 'no' and putting him to bed, tears or not. He wasn't one to tolerate tantrums and his cub knew it, but he also figured it would be beneficial for Harry to know about his other god-father even at this young of an age…regardless of his initial thoughts that telling this story would scare Harry.

"Alright, alright. You win this time, but no more whining, understand?"

Harry nodded before snuggling closer to Remus, eager to hear the story. With another sigh, Remus began the abridged tale of Sirius Black.

"Sirius was our friend during our years at school. Your father and Sirius were inseparable, almost like how you and Tyga are so close. Where one was, the other was as well. Both Sirius and James wanted to become Aurors to fight against dark wizards, and they did. The head of the MLE…"

"What's MLE?"

"Magical Law Enforcement. It's very similar to police officers in the no-maj world, and both James and Sirius were two of the best Aurors on the force, even as newcomers. James took a leave of absence after you were born, meaning he decided to stay home with you and your mum as the war was getting worse, but Sirius didn't have a family to protect and he continued to fight. He truly was one of the best," Remus paused and shifted Harry a bit before continuing, "the last time I saw your parents and Sirius was right around your first birthday. Sometime in August I was sent to do some work and wasn't around. Times were dark then. So very dark that everyone was in hiding. Trying to see friends and family was a major risk to everyone involved," another pause, "the next time I saw you, Harry, was when I picked you up from your Aunt and Uncle's house in Surrey, England, and then we moved here to America."

"Oh…" Harry said softly. "Uncle Remus?"

"Harry," Remus hugged the child to him. He was prepared for an onslaught of tears as Harry only called him 'uncle' or 'dad' when he was upset. Instead, Remus got, But how did he betray my mom and dad?"

A little shocked at the question, Remus answered, "The paper said that Sirius was the secret keeper for your parents. He was supposed to keep where you and your parents lived a secret and he told Voldemort where you were. Sirius went to the dark side for power."

"How do you know?"

"What do you mean? The paper…"

"How do you know that Sirius did that?" Harry asked as he sat up a little. "Did you ask him?"

"Well, no…but," Remus stammered.

Harry turned around to look Remus in the face. "Then how do you know that he is a bad man?"

"The paper said that he told Voldemort," Remus started to explain again but was once again interrupted.

"Uncle Remus, did Sirius get…um…that thing where bad people are in a room with the grumpy man behind the big desk and other people tell on the bad person?"

Remus thought for a moment at what his child could be thinking about before hesitantly saying, "do you mean a trial?"

"Yes! Did he get one of those things?" Harry asked, his face completely serious.

"I don't think that he did, Harry, but what difference does it make? He did something horrible and was punished for it." Remus said exasperatedly.

"You have to get a…a…trial thing before they put you in jail. That's the law, Uncle Remus." Harry said pointedly.

"Not when the person who did something wrong tells the truth about what they did." Remus weakly replied even though he knew his kid had a point.

Harry stared at Remus for a long time after that remark. With a little huff, he crawled under the covers and turned his back towards his god-father. Remus looked on bemused, wondering what he said to upset his cub. "Harry?"

"I'm not talking to you. Not until you ask Sirius if he really is a bad man or not," came the muffled reply from the six-year-old. "You always tell me not to believe every rumor and to get the facts myself before judging someone, and now you are doing it. You're breaking your own rule, Uncle Remus."

Remus stared flabbergasted at the back of his child. The audacity of this kid! In a way, he knew that Harry was throwing a temper tantrum, something that Remus would not tolerate in his house, but he just couldn't find it in himself to scold Harry when the child had a point. He had nothing to say in reply, so after staring like a fish at the small body under the covers for a few more minutes, Remus bade Harry a goodnight before shutting off the lights, leaving the hallway light dimmed as a nightlight.

Downstairs, Remus dropped onto the couch. He was mentally exhausted from telling Harry about his parents and Sirius and the strange discussion afterward as well as physically exhausted because of the full moon two nights before. As he sat there staring at the photograph he accidentally took from Harry, he couldn't help but wonder if he had been wrong these last five years. Was Sirius innocent and did Remus only go along with what everyone said because he was distraught?

Doubt and guilt filled Remus as he thought about the possibility that his friend was actually innocent of the crime he was imprisoned for this entire time and he wanted answers to this mess. If Sirius was innocent, then he needed to be out of that hell hole. If he was guilty, then Remus would demand answers to the question that had plagued him for the last five years: Why did he betray Lily and James?

He was determined to find out, for his sake as well as Harry's.


	2. Confrontations and Truths

Remus stared at the large prison in front of him with apprehension. What he would be attempting if his friend was found to be innocent was considered insane, not to mention suicidal. When he brought the idea up to visit Sirius to Mari, she was a bit wary about Remus returning to Britain to visit a convicted murderer. When he explained the possibility of Sirius being innocent- and if that were the case he would try to break him out- Mari had punched him in his chest, quite hard too as he still had a bruise there, then tried to keep him from leaving the house. Only the intervention of her mother allowed Remus to escape the house with the promise that he would be back home by Monday morning and apparate away. He decided to avoid ministry detection by using muggle means to travel back to his home country, then created a portkey and bribed the boatman for a ride across the freezing waters to reach his destination. Now as he stood outside the intimidating doors with the guards glaring at him, Remus wasn't so sure this was a good idea after all. However, the memory of Harry's happy face when he told the child that he would go talk to Sirius pushed any second thoughts of turning back out of his mind as he walked up to the guards.

"State your name and business here," the burlier of the two guards demanded.

Thinking quickly, Remus gave the name 'Bennett Taylor' and his business of visiting. If he did plan to break Sirius out it wouldn't do for any of the guards to associate his face with his given name. The guards continued their glaring contest with Remus, a contest where he ultimately won due to not backing down or altering his eyes. He may be nervous with what he was planning to do, but his years of dealing with Mari's pack, as well as him being an Alpha in his own right, compelled the werewolf to stare down those who would challenge him.

Realizing the scare tactics that normally had witches and wizards shifting nervously wasn't working on the man before them, the two guards opened the doors to the prison without further incident. Remus walked into the building with an air of superiority, while on the inside he was hyperventilating that his bluff actually worked. Now he just had to get through the second security feature: giving up his wand.

He had a plan for that though. Even though Mari was against him returning to Britain, her mother had prepared something for him to bypass security within the prison. That was why he had the wand of Mari's deceased brother in his hand and was now presenting it to the guard before being guided into a room with a table and three chairs. Remus sat in the nearest chair and waited for the prisoner he came to see to be brought into the room. Minutes later, a guard shoved in a disheveled man who was shackled and defenseless into the room. The man prevented himself from falling face first into the table by grabbing onto the corner of the metal furniture. The guard just laughed at the glare the prisoner gave him before roughly grabbing one of the man's arms and shoving him into the seat opposite Remus. With a wave of his wand, the prisoner was wrapped in chains and the guard left the two wizards alone.

Remus stared at the man in front of him and a small piece of his heart broke knowing that this disheveled man was his best friend. In the five years that he was locked in maximum security, Sirius' hair became stringy and thin and his prison clothes were hanging off his malnourished body. His teeth, from what Remus could see as his friend smiled at him while his eyes danced with recognition, were yellow and plaque-ridden. Remus' eyes were full of sympathy and he opened his mouth to say something along the lines of an apology when Sirius sharply cut him off.

"Don't even think about it, Remus. I don't want sympathy."

"Sorry if it seemed that way. I wasn't planning on offering you any," Remus responded coolly.

"Your eyes tell a different story."

"My eyes might show one emotion while I feel another," Remus' hard voice stated as he narrowed his eyes that he knew were amber as he felt the wolf in him pacing back and forth in his head. "Anger, confusion, betrayal. Any of those ringing a bell? That's what I'm feeling right now as I look at the man who supposedly is the reason why our best friends are dead!" he watched as Sirius' eyes shifted away as guilt-racked his friend.

Sirius leaned forward as far as his chained hands would allow him. "It's my fault…it's all my fault…that they're gone," he mumbled.

Remus quickly grew furious and the snarl he released was utterly feral as he lunged over the table and grabbed Sirius by the lapels of his uniform. Sirius just admitted to being the reason behind James and Lily's murder. If he didn't have a six-year-old-boy to return home to, Remus would risk Azkaban if it meant that he could destroy the man before him. He told Sirius as much, finally gaining a reaction from the prisoner.

Sirius' eyes were wide as he asked, "You have a family?"

"I have my god-son.  _Our_  god-son and he needs me to not do something stupid that'll make him an orphan again." Remus held his old friend's stare with a glare of his own until Sirius looked away. He could tell guilt was swirling through the man in his grip. He wanted to beat him bloody; he wanted to slaughter him. Hell, to be honest, Remus really wanted to show Harry to Sirius so that the man would know that he ruined his life by being a spy for that homicidal maniac and destroyed any relationship he could possibly have had with the wonderful child waiting on Remus back in America.

What he did instead, was ask, "Why did you betray them?"

Sirius frowned in confusion. "Betray? Betray who?"

Remus snarled again and pushed against the man sitting in the chair, causing the chair to tilt backward and depositing both wizards on the floor. Remus didn't care. He was seeing red and it soon would be Sirius' blood on his hands. "You know  _exactly_  who I'm talking about!" he yelled.

Sirius should have been at least a bit scared at the angry wizard above him, but considering he'd been in a situation similar to this with Remus before he wasn't fazed. Instead, he was beginning to feel an emotion he hadn't felt in five years.

Anger.

"Are you accusing me of betraying James and Lily?"

"YES!" Remus roared.

And that was when that fiery emotion boiled to the top. Sirius was angry. He was angry that he was in this situation; angry because the bastard who deserved to die in this forsaken place was still alive and roaming free somewhere. He was angry that the last friend he had truly believed he would betray his brother in all but blood and his wife. He was about to call his friend all of the rotten names in the book and demand where did he get off with that insane accusation when it dawned on Sirius that Remus wouldn't have known about the switch. He wasn't around when he and James made Peter the secret keeper. For all anyone else in the wizarding world knew, Sirius  _did_ betray the Potters. Without a trial or Veritaserum, Sirius was as guilty as the Prophet made him out to be for the last five years. His anger abated to sadness as he realized that Remus believed what was written.

He sighed despondently and closed his eyes. "I didn't betray our friends," Sirius opened his eyes to fix Remus with a glare, his voice harsh as he continued, "but I guess it doesn't matter what I say in my defense since my last friend believes what is written in the papers like the rest of the bloody sheep in this world. I expected the rest of the world to believe the Prophet about me but not you, Remus."

Remus flinched and released Sirius as it was now his turn to look away from those penetrating gray eyes in guilt. "I did believe the paper. I believed it for five years and for those five years, I…I was furious at you for betraying our friends."

"You say that you 'did believe the paper'. What changed your mind?"

Remus smirked slightly and dipped his head. "Harry did."

Sirius tilted his head in confusion but didn't ask. Instead, he just closed his eyes and shifted to lean against the wall. "I didn't betray James and Lily," he said again.

"You were their secret keeper, Sirius."

"Peter," the name was said with barely restrained anger, "was their secret keeper."

Remus whipped his head up in shock. "What?"

Sirius sighed again. "Originally, I was the secret keeper for the Potters. However, we were convinced to change the secret keepers in case I was captured. I wasn't skilled in Occulumency and everyone knew that James and I were thick as thieves. They would have done their damnedest to get the information out of me but I would have died rather than betray them. However, we were convinced to have the secret keeper changed as a means to throw the Death Eaters off any trail. We were foolish to listen to him," he scoffed at the naivete he and James showed when he remembered how they worshipped the ground that old man walked on.

"Listen to who?"

"That manipulative bastard, Dumbledore!"

Remus sat staring at a point behind Sirius' head as the other wizard continued with his rant about Albus Dumbledore. This was the third time that wizard appeared regarding the Potters or Harry. The first time was that night and his blatant disregard for the will Lily and James left behind pertaining to Harry. The second was when the crazy old man had the audacity to venture to America on Harry's third birthday to, not to subtlety, demand Remus revoke the adoption of his godson that was completed the week before. Albus attempted to convince him that Harry would be better off raised by his aunt and uncle, stating that due to his affliction he would essentially be putting Harry at risk every month. That was when Remus finally realized that he wanted nothing to do with the man he once worshipped and if it weren't for Mari and the pack members driving the old fool away, Remus would have attempted to kill the old bastard. Now here was the man's name appearing once again, and the way things were looking, he was a factor for why Sirius was in this horrible place. With no trial set for his friend because he "confessed", it was looking like Dumbledore manipulated this entire fiasco or was involved someway. 

"Sirius," the man in question stopped his ranting long enough to look at his friend, "Why didn't you take Harry that night?"

Sirius once more looked away as the guilt he'd been feeling for the last five years tried to consume him. "By the time I reached the house, Hagrid was already walking out of the house holding Harry in his arms," he looked at Remus, tears glistening in his eyes, "I was distraught, Remus. Seeing the house like that, walking in to see…" he choked up as the memory invaded his mind, tears streaming down his dirty cheeks.

Remus wasn't too far behind as his own tears collected at the corner of his eyes at the memory of the house and the damage sustained to it and the occupants within. He was lucky enough to not see his friend's bodies. He could only imagine what seeing James and Lily's lifeless bodies did to Sirius as the memory was embedded in his mind.

Sirius managed to calm himself down enough to continue, "Hagrid had told me what I already knew, which did nothing to quell the anger I was feeling, but I knew I needed to tend to Harry. When I asked for him, however, I was denied. Apparently, Dumbledore ordered Hagrid to bring Harry straight to a specified location. Stupid me didn't even think twice about it. I should have demanded Hagrid give me my godson, but instead, I allowed my grief and anger to consume me further and guide me. I abandoned Harry to chase after Peter, giving Hagrid my motorcycle since he couldn't use magic. Peter managed to get a Confundus off on me, blow up a gas vein killing those muggles in the process, cut his finger off, transform, and frame me for this entire fiasco in one fell swoop. I never received a trial, nor was I questioned under Veritaserum."

"Harry was right then," Remus mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. So, you were incarcerated unlawfully, and with how the ministry is run these days I doubt that you'll even get a trial before the year is out."

Sirius scoffed. "Before the year is out? I'll be lucky if I get a trial before the next six years is over. I have a better chance of breaking out of here than waiting for a trial. That's impossible, by the way, breaking out of here."

Remus chuckled for the first time since he decided to make the journey back to Britain. As far as he could make out, Sirius was innocent and was the unfortunate casualty in a delusional man's quest for the 'greater good'. He still wanted to knock Sirius around for allowing his emotions to get the better of him, causing him to abandon Harry in the boy's time of need, but that could all wait until they were safely back in America. Remus waved his hand, something that caught Sirius' attention and he questioned the action, receiving a soft smile in return. "Just a bit of wandless magic. You tend to learn a few things when you have to use magic in public to corral a very active toddler and can't use your wand."

"What did you do?"

Taking out his wand this time, Remus undid Sirius' chains and pulled out a vial and a furry creature. "Just a little something to the security system which will call the guards, I'm sure. Now, as painful as it is, think about the night you and James switched secret keepers and that horrible night five years ago…" Remus said as he put his wand to his friend's temple.

"Why…wait…Remus are you mad?! Why are you doing this and how did you smuggle a wand in here…is that a squirrel?"

"Shh…trust me, Sirius, and do as I say. The sooner you cooperate the sooner we can get out of here and back to Harry."

Sirius wanted to fight against this madman calling himself Remus Lupin who was trying to break him out of this hellhole. The only reason that had the prisoner cooperating was the possibility of seeing his godson again. He would do anything to see Harry again. Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his cheeks again as he thought about that horrible night and the decisions that led up to it. Guiding Remus' hand, he pulled the memories from his head and into the vial. Remus reached into his pocket and hastily wrote a note before transfiguring the creature that was just starting to rise from its forced nap into a very likable replica of his friend. He then took some powder from his robes and blew it onto the replica's face, causing the fidgety and confused creature to return to sleep.

Sirius watched all of this in terrified amazement and a bit of trepidation as Remus then pulled out a flask. "Alright old friend, this is going to taste horrible and feel absolutely uncomfortable, but you need to do this for us to get out of here."

Sirius looked between Remus and the flask. "You must have seriously gone mental."

"We don't have time to debate this, Sirius. Now, you can either drink this potion on your own or I can stun you and force it down your throat. The choice is yours but either way, you're drinking this Polyjuice potion."

"Alright, alright." Sirius took the flask from Remus and with a withering glare at his friend, took a large swig from the flask. The change was instantaneous and Sirius cried out from the pain of his body changing rapidly. By the time he finished changing, Sirius had passed out from the experience.

Remus knew he would get an earful from his friend when he returned to his original form, probably a punch in the face as well, but it would all be worth it once Sirius was out of this wretched place. Quickly placing the chains on the transformed squirrel who now took the place of Sirius, Remus then put the vial of memories and the note into a pocket of the uniform before knocking on the door to signal he was done with the visit. The guards who came in looked between the two wizards dubiously.

Remus shrugged. "He cried himself to sleep after confessing to me. Figured it was time to go," turning to the sleeping figure, Remus glared at the prisoner. "Farewell, Black. We'll never see one another again and I hope you rot in here with the guilt of your actions suffocating you." With that said, Remus let himself out of the room and building. He boarded the waiting boat that would take him to civilization and couldn't help the sense of glee that overcame him as the realization of what he just accomplished washed over him. Later on, as he stared at his friend, Remus would feel the varying emotions of fear, worry, nervousness, and similar emotions along that rollercoaster, but right now, Remus was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to those who left kudos last time! Hope you all enjoyed Remus getting Sirius out of jail! He couldn't exactly walk out with a big black dog when he walked in alone. :D


	3. We'll fix this problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How does Harry feel when he sees the godfather he hasn't seen in five years?

A disguised Sirius raced out of the doors of JFK International Airport and took a deep breath. Releasing the held breath out with a laugh, the escaped convict spun around with his arms in the air like a child frolicking through the grass, ignorant to the stares and whispers around him. This feeling was amazing. He was free and he was feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, and he was loving it. Two days had passed since Remus turned him into a squirrel and helped him escape from Azkaban. Of course, he gave his thanks in the form of a black eye which Remus was still sporting, but his friend took it all in good stride as he shoved a filthy Sirius Black into the bathroom of the muggle hotel room they were staying in and told him to bathe, something Sirius was quite eager to do. Now he was free from Britain. That's not to say that he was a free man, and he would have to stay in hiding, but he was away from the corrupted Ministry and laws of wizarding Britain and manipulative old coots who insisted they knew better than everyone else. He could begin to live a new life with his godson as he should have been doing for the last five years.

As Remus signaled for a cab and the two wizards were on their way to Manhattan, Sirius couldn't contain his excitement. He was like a kid in a candy shop as he took in all the sights. Remus stared out his own window but quietly observed his old friend in the reflection and couldn't help but smile softly. If things had played out differently five years ago, Sirius would be a healthy wizard raising a healthy Harry while he continued his role as surrogate Uncle. As fate would have it, Remus was now the adoptive father of Harry while Sirius would be relegated to the role of uncle, though Remus would definitely allow Sirius to have a major part in raising Harry. That was a silent promise to himself as Sirius needed that interaction with Harry to thrive.

Reaching the designated area in Times Square, Remus directed the driver to drop them off at the corner of forty-seventh street and eighth avenue. From there, after paying the driver, the two wizards walked down the Diamond District to what looked like an abandoned building. Remus pulled Sirius, who was still gazing around, into the warm building. To Sirius, the interior reminded him of a cleaner version of 'The Leaky Cauldron'. Even the barkeep looked well-groomed compared to Tom. The entire situation from leaving Britain to seeing some sights in New York was al la culture shock for the escaped prisoner. Remus watched his friend, highly amused about his reaction to 'The Wanted Guardian'. If he was being honest with himself, the name and location were highly misleading, so he could understand the overwhelming awe at the immaculate interior coming from Sirius. Remus walked over to the counter and greeted the woman behind it warmly.

"Claire, how are you today?"

The woman's blue eyes lit up at the sight of the wizard in front of her. "Well, well, if it isn't my favorite Brit. What brings you in here? Where's Harry? He's such a little tyke and such an amazing little boy Remus. You're doing a wonderful job raising him."

Remus blushed at the praise. "Thank you, Claire. Harry is at home with his aunt and cousin as I had some business outside of the country to deal with," he gestured to Sirius who finally realized that Remus had left him and walked over to the bar. Sirius flashed a smile at Claire and quickly took in her features, a skill he learned in his short tenure as an Auror. You had to quickly observe a person or a situation before acting…

He mentally scoffed. So much for his training as he ignored everything that was taught to him as he charged after Peter blindly. Looking at the young woman, he noticed the scar on her neck where her brown, shoulder-length hair happened to shift. The scar itself looked more like a recovered bite mark, but Sirius didn't study it for too long as it was quite rude to stare. Instead, he gently took hold of the woman's hand and kissed her knuckles. "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Claire…"

"Fairchild," she answered his pause.

"Clair Fairchild. Such a lovely name for a lovely woman."

Remus rolled his eyes at his friend laying on the charm. "Too bad for you, Markyl, Clair is happily mated," he commented as he changed the other man's name as they had discussed.

"That's too bad. Well, doesn't hurt anyone to make acquaintances. Hopefully, that could evolve into friendship."

Clair smiled back at the man before her and leaned close enough that only the two wizards could hear her. "Once you are found innocent, Sirius Black, our friendship could become a cherished and public one. Until then, it will have to stay private."

Both wizards paled while Claire just laughed. She waved both men over to the floo where Remus quickly took Sirius' arm and disappeared in the burst of green flames.

"What the bloody hell was that about? How did she know about me?" Sirius demanded once they stepped out of the fireplace.

"Probably the newspaper, Sirius," Remus answered thoughtfully.

"But I'm disguised. I even have blonde hair to completely change my looks. How could she see through that?"

"I honestly don't know myself. I can only think that maybe it's a werewolf thing, but I have never been able to see through glamor charms myself. Only been able to smell through them," the werewolf replied as he looked to his friend who he could clearly see was very worried, "but I can assure you that your whereabouts are safe with her. We werewolves tend to stick together here in America, unlike back in Britain."

"I don't know Remus…"

"Trust me, Sirius. You're safe here."

Sirius did trust his friend; last time he didn't it almost cost him a lifetime in Azkaban. Neither he nor James could be sure if Remus was a spy or a not so they chose not to tell him anything, especially pertaining to secret keepers. If they had trusted Remus, however, Sirius wouldn't have spent five years rotting away. Even with that in mind, however, it didn't mean that he wouldn't be wary of people knowing who he was. Looking around the room they flooed into, Sirius took in the flowery decor and scrunched up his face. Remus stifled the laugh he desperately wanted to release as he observed his friend. He remembered his first time at Acacia's house and his opinion of her choice of decorations five years prior. Even now he still felt that the home held too many flowery prints. He quickly learned to just accept the cozy home as something similar to a grandmother's house. It helped Remus grow accustomed to that terminology as Harry insisted on calling the older woman 'grandma'.

"Ah, you've returned. Harry will be very happy to see…"

"MOONY!"

Remus turned just in time to catch the black-haired blur that raced into the room. Harry clung to Remus tightly, sniffling occasionally while the older wizard rubbed his back soothingly as he whispered comforting words. A soft, "I missed you," could be heard over the soft sniffling as the young wizard pulled away to look his godfather in his eyes.

"I missed you too, cub."

Sirius watched the moment with a touch of envy. If things were different, that would have been him holding and comforting Harry. he knew situations and events always happened for a reason and he was by no means angry about Remus raising Harry; he was just a tad…jealous. However, as Sirius watched as the two embraced, he wondered if he would have done as good of a job as Remus. He knew that he wouldn't have had to flee from Britain if he didn't chase after Peter. He would have been Lord Black and raised Harry in their home country and in a nice house that most definitely would not have been Grimmauld Place. If he could help it, he wouldn't step foot back into that horrible miserable place, and he wouldn't even dream of raising Harry there.

He was pulled from his musings by a tugging sensation on his sleeve. He looked down into the most vibrant green eyes that reminded him so much of Lily and he nearly broke down in tears as the child looked up at him so inquisitively. Harry tilted his head at the man in front of him, taking in all of his features; the shoulder length black hair, his grey eyes, his pale skin, and the fact that he was wearing one of Moony's robes. Still watching the man, the young wizard held his arms up, a clear indication that he wanted to be picked up. Remus opened his mouth to gently scold his child only stopping when Sirius held up his hand. Everyone watched in amusement and compassion as the ex-convict tried to keep his emotions together while he held his godson for the first time in five years.

Harry stared at the man holding him with wide eyes. He reached out his small hands and touched Sirius' face gently, and then ran his fingers through his hair and over his ears. He put his head on the older man's chest and listened to his heartbeat for a little while before returning to his original position and stared at the man's grey eyes. His eyes widened even more as recognition took place and soon he grinned widely and released a high pitch squeal of delight at a decibel only a small child was capable of, scaring all of the adults in the room, before wrapping his little arms around Sirius' neck.

"PADFOOT!" Harry said excitedly and quite loudly.

The dam of tears that the escaped convict was trying to hold at bay completely gave away as the first trail cascaded down his cheeks as he hugged his godson close. The only dry eye in the room belonged to the giddy child in Sirius' arms. Remus joined the two wizards in the hug, thinking to himself that the three of them would be alright. Everything would be alright now. Everything was finally perfect for the three wizards.

** *~RL~SB~HP~RL~HP~* **

Millicent Bagnold was sitting with her hands entangled in her hair restraining herself from pulling it out as she continued to think of a solution to this horrible situation. Sirius Black has been gone from his cell for at least three days. There was a very slim chance that Sirius Black would still be in Britain, let alone in Europe. As tempting as it seemed to follow the advice of some members of the Wizangamot, she completely ignored the orders of sending dementors to scour for the escaped convict along with the Aurors. She was slowly becoming desperate though to announce a 'kiss on sight' order, but dementors were fickle creatures and they had the tendency to feast on anyone if they became too hungry, so that idea was completely thrown out. She also couldn't send out the entire Auror force as they were still needed for simple matters in Britain. Asking other nations and countries for help would only make the ministry look like incompetent fools who allowed dark wizards and their accomplices out on the loose. Everything was too complicated and a complete mess!

Millicent groaned as she let her head drop heavily onto the desk, which aggravated her headache more. Her door banging open rudely also didn't help the oncoming migraine and she snapped at the rookie Auror who dared to enter unannounced.

"You better have a damn good reason for barging in my office like that."

"I apologize for my rudeness, Minister, but we've found something that you may be interested in knowing about," the young Auror said nervously as he made sure to avoid the fierce glare coming from the head of the wizarding community.

"It better have something to so with the Black case, Jones, otherwise you'll be doing desk work for the next fifteen years," Millicent growled as she glared at the Auror.

"I…I'm sorry…of course…um…"

"Out with it!"

"We've found a vial in the cell Sirius Black was in. It was under the bed and we suspect that it rolled there when the prison clothes were picked up."

Millicent stared at the Auror, making the man fidget. "You barge in here to tell me about some random vial you found?"

"No... Minister…well, yes, but it's a rather important vial as we believe it contains Sirius Black's memories."

' _Memories? Why would he need to leave his memories behind?'_ the minister questioned herself. "Are you sure these are memories?"

"I am positive Minister." The young Auror stated standing proudly.

"Go fetch that vial and bring me Amelia Bones. Quickly!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The Auror dashed out of the office and was gone no longer than fifteen minutes before he returned with his boss who had the vial in her hands. The Minister had already pulled out her pensieve and wasted no time pouring the vial into the water. Before the three ministry officials put their heads in, Bagnold turned to glare at the younger Auror. "What you see here stays here, understood?"

"Y...yes ma'am." The young Auror stammered before joining the women in the pensieve.

Upon landing in the first memory, the three realized that this memory was from someone else who was apparently interviewing Black as a visitor. Bagnold gritted her teeth as she found out that Sirius was placed in Azkaban without a trial. Amelia was faring no better in containing her emotions as her best Auror was framed and was locked away for five years. They continued watching and was quite surprised when Sirius accused Peter Pettigrew of betraying the Potters. Suddenly the memory changed. It started with Sirius and James discussing changing secret keepers as having Sirius on as the keeper would compromise the Potters should he ever be caught by Death Eaters. Then came the memory of James, Sirius, and Peter in the same room, changing the vows and making Peter the new secret keeper for the Potters. The memory changed once more to Sirius arriving at the demolished Potter residence.

The three viewers could feel the man's emotions through the memory, emotions that rapidly changed from sorrow at knowing the only people he considered family were dead, to relief as he watched Hagrid exit the demolished house with his godson, to anger when the half-giant informed Sirius of Dumbledore's orders that Harry was to be taken straight to a specific location, to sadness as he said goodbye to his precious godson while cleaning up the blood on his little forehead, to fury as he ran off to chase after Peter.

The final memory ended with Sirius being thrown across a road as Peter used a blasting curse to not only get away but kill innocent muggles. They watched as the rat bastard cut off his own finger and placed it next to Sirius before transforming and scurrying down into the sewers.

Amelia was the first to pull out of the pensieve and she was muttering angrily to herself. Bagnold and the Auror were next and Millicent went back to her desk to sit down. She sat contemplating exactly how that day went terribly wrong and how one innocent man was failed by an entire government. "How could none of us question the validity of Sirius being thrown in jail? Especially as he is the last living head of an Ancient and Noble house?" she asked quietly.

"Because we all believed and had faith in Crouch to do things fairly and Fudge to actually do his job correctly," Amelia scoffed. "Apparently we were all wrong," she said as she sat in the chair across from the minister. She remembered her rookie Auror was still in the room and dismissed him after thanking him as well as assuring he kept his mouth shut. Bagnold moved to her cabinet, pulled out two tumblers and the bottle of scotch she kept in there, then handed one to her head Auror. They sat in silence, slowly drinking and thinking.

"Peter Pettigrew is alive," Bagnold started.

"And is an unregistered Animagus," Amelia continued.

"Sirius was innocent this whole time." Once more, the Minister sat in contemplative silence as she nursed her drink. Suddenly, she tossed the rest of her drink back before giving Amelia a hard look.

"I want Crouch and Fudge in a cell by the end of the night. They will answer for putting an innocent man in the very same prison they may or may not be living in soon. Also, I want a notice in the Daily Prophet. Sirius Black will be exonerated thanks to the help of his memories from that horrible Halloween. The people responsible for his wrongful incarceration as well as the Ministry will pay compensation for the hardships and trauma he was put through for these last five years," she paused and gritted her teeth, "I may have been blinded to the extra events from that night, but I'll be damned if I don't fix it."

Amelia smiled as she finished her own drink before standing. "I will get right on it, Minister," she said as she left the room.

An innocent man will soon have his freedom, and rightfully so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is always too short. Almost as if I should have made an extra section showing Sirius being exonerated, but I honestly didn't know how to write it without making it cheesy. 
> 
> Thank you for joining me on another miniature journey with Harry, Remus, and now Sirius. I believe there are 2 or 3 more one-shots before the main story but I'm still currently writing and typing that up. I don't know when I will actually post the main story, but be on the lookout for it! Ja ne~

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank everyone from the previous story who left a kudos there. I really appreciate them!   
> There was a comment left that had me thinking. I will not lie and say that I thought about it before the comment was left, both here and on FFN, but after I posted "The Hunt" and read the comment, I researched whether or not it would be possible for Lily to have magical born relatives while she herself is considered a muggle-born. To answer that, yes, Lily is a muggle-born with her mother having the dormant magical gene. I plan on making a companion multi-chapter (maybe 2-3) focusing around that sometime after I start the main story. 
> 
> So thank you Stargirl1061 for asking the question of Lily's family being a seer. You have given me a muse to write a little segment about her family before she was born. And thank you to the guest reviewer from FFN who chose not to log on but left a nice opening for another muse to take place. 
> 
> Thanks again! Leave a Kudos/Comment please! You guys are awesome!


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